- The new BMW M3 with a combustion engine is undergoing testing at the Nürburgring.
- Codenamed G84, the sports sedan will retain the twin-turbo, 3.0-liter inline-six engine.
- BMW has ruled out a plug-in hybrid setup, but a mild hybrid is likely.
- Don’t expect to see it before 2028.
It’s easy to forget BMW is developing another gasoline-powered M3 when so much of the conversation revolves around the electric model. But make no mistake: another six-cylinder sports sedan is on the way. Fresh footage captured at the Nürburgring by Carspotter Jeroen gives us our best look yet at the successor to the current-generation M3. We’ll likely see plenty more of these camouflaged prototypes, since the car isn’t expected to break cover until 2028 at the earliest.
From the few details BMW has shared, the new M3 definitely won’t be a plug-in hybrid like its bigger brother, the M5. It will, however, use a “new type of six-cylinder engine,” according to Mike Reichelt, Head of Neue Klasse. Some have speculated about a radical switch to a V6, something Munich has never put into a production car, even though prototypes were secretly built. However, M CEO Frank van Meel has made it crystal clear that the inline-six is here to stay.
BMW will likely further refine the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter engine beyond the new pre-chamber ignition technology it recently introduced in Europe. Rumor has it the next M3 could adopt a mild-hybrid setup to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations. While it’s impossible to tell from the spy video, the “G84” may be offered exclusively with all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission.
It’s A Full M Car
The test car’s flared fenders are a dead giveaway that this is a full-fat M3 rather than the M Performance model BMW accidentally listed on its website for the 2027 model year as the M350 before quickly taking it down. Predictably, it doesn’t look as wild as the M Concept Neue Klasse (pictured below) since it won’t inherit the extreme aerodynamic package.
Although the M Concept Neue Klasse technically previewed next year’s electric M3, BMW has already said future models will look nearly identical regardless of what powers them. Consequently, the new i3 sedan offers an accurate preview of the gasoline-powered 3 Series debuting in the coming months. By extension, the electric and combustion-powered M3s should look strikingly similar inside and out.
You can tell this disguised prototype is still a work in progress by its provisional headlights and taillights. Whether the M Concept Neue Klasse’s chunky ducktail spoiler is hiding beneath the camouflage remains unclear, but some of the concept’s design cues will certainly carry over to the production M3. In fact, BMW has already confirmed that the double-yellow headlights and the stacked, cube-shaped lights on the bumpers will appear on all future M models.
The Next M3 Prototype Has An All-Glass Roof
This prototype appears to have a fixed full-glass panoramic roof with no opening section to let fresh air into the cabin. It won’t be the only option for the next-generation M3, as BMW will also offer a lightweight roof made from flax-based natural fiber composites. The concept we keep mentioning also uses this carbon-fiber alternative for the hood air outlets, side mirrors, front splitter, and rear diffuser.
BMW has been dropping hints about building another M3 Touring with a gasoline engine and potentially even bringing it to the United States, where the current “G81” remains forbidden fruit. The company hasn’t made a firm commitment, but it is developing a new combustion-powered 3 Series Touring alongside the electric i3 Touring. In the meantime, it isn’t done with the current M3, as both the sedan and wagon are expected to remain in production until 2027.
111
Source: BMW
Motor1’s Take: Sacrilegious as the electric M3 may seem to purists, they can take comfort in knowing BMW is preparing another generation powered by a six-cylinder engine. This video offers tangible proof of the company’s commitment to the inline-six, which now meets the Euro 7 emissions standard. That can only mean it still has a long future ahead of it, much like the V8, which also complies with the latest regulations.
We should get our first taste of the new inline-six 3 Series when the M350 debuts, possibly before the end of the year, as the replacement for the M340i. Given that BMW is expected to keep the new 3 Series on sale until around the middle of the next decade, this could be the last generation of the 3er to offer a six-cylinder engine.
The EU wants automakers to cut CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2035 compared with 2021 levels, so we wouldn’t hold our breath waiting for the inline-six to survive beyond the next-generation 3 Series. Of course, we won’t mind if BMW proves us wrong.
Source:
Carspotter Jeroen / YouTube
Read the full article here
